Last semester, I had the pleasure of visiting one of my best friends at his school. When I arrived, he was telling me all about this girl he was obsessed with. But for some reason, she just wasn’t into him. And oddly enough, to my fascination, that’s what made him want her even more. 

What I’m getting at here is the obvious value of playing hard to get. It’s true – the oldest trick in the book really does work. And it seems like it really boils down to the cliché thrill of the chase. 

After having a conversation with him where I deemed him a major jerk for never liking the girls who pay attention to him or, even more terribly, pursuing a girl he really likes and then stopping the pursuit as soon as the interest is reciprocated, we crafted a plan.  

With the running ironic joke between us being that we aren’t dating, although one look at either of our Facebook or Instagram accounts would make one assume otherwise, we planned to use this to our advantage to make her jealous. Despite our friendship being one of platonic tension, as we like to call it, I was to make the girl he was eyeing incredibly jealous. Basically, placing my hand on his shoulder while talking to him at a party she was at was enough to do the trick. Easy. This was clearly an effective plan, as he ended up getting with not just one, but two of the girls he had been eyeing that night – I know, I know, right?  

At the end of the night, as I sat on the floor of his dorm common room with nowhere to go, I realized two things. First and foremost, what a damn good wing-woman I am. Secondly, just how different guys are from girls – admittedly this comes with the caveat of what a gross overgeneralization that is, and as I write this, I realize it’s not a guys vs. girls thing – it’s a people thing. He was attracted by the thrill of the chase, while she was attracted by the competition. 

Whether or not we know it, everyone is attracted by the allure of competition. While some are turned off by it, there is definitely a competitive edge to seeing something you want and wanting to call it yours, despite the surrounding competitors. You want to beat everyone out. In the end, you ultimately want to win. It’s human nature. 

There’s no doubt that the competition can get crazy from time to time. There are people who, no matter the circumstances, once they see a time to get the prize, they’re going to go to for it without thinking about any of the collateral damage or logistics of the situation. For example, in my friends case, the two girls he hooked up with that night being his crush and her best friend. In the same night. It’s all in the details.